My Mother's Cello
by GeekViking86
Summary: Sequel to Humans weren't meant to float. A year after discovering their love, Asuka and Shinji are now freshmen at Kyoto university. But how will life change as their relationship is tested, and they learn more about each others' pasts? Heavy SA some WAFF
1. Prologue

First thing's first… This, as I said in the preview, is the sequel to my previous story, "Humans weren't meant to float." I highly recommend you read my first story before reading this if you haven't already done so. Otherwise, the characters might seem a bit OOC to you, since I did a lot of development to them over the course of HWMTF. For everyone who already has read it (you know who you are), please read on!

So, yeah, back in business! It took me a while since my Eva buzz had died down for a while, but I'd put so much thought into what I want to do in this story and wanted to do it so much, I decided "Eva buzz or not, I'm going to do this." I'm glad to see that so many people enjoyed Humans Weren't Meant to Float, and I never would have dreamt I'd get over 200 reviews for it! Thank you to everyone who followed that project so faithfully and left all the great feedback! You are the guys who make this hobby worthwhile, and I'm glad to finally be giving you some more.

I'm not sure how long this story is going to be as of yet. I don't think it's going to be as long as HWMTF, but then again, my predictions for those sorts of things have a knack for being inaccurate, so I'll make no assumptions.

Now, it's one year later, and the two will be starting their freshman year of college at Kyoto University. So, what's in store for Shinji and Asuka now that they're heading out on their own? Read on to find out…

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 1: Prologue

As Shinji's eyes fluttered open, he was greeted with the sight of another un-familiar ceiling in an un-familiar room, and arranged around him were stack upon stack of moving boxes. When he groggily turned his head and saw Asuka's golden red locks cascading on his body, his memory came fumbling back into his mind. It was Saturday at about four thirty. They were in their new apartment in Kyoto, and they'd just gotten off of their flight about three hours ago. It would appear that the two of them had fallen asleep on the couch once they'd gotten into their new accommodations. All of a sudden, Shinji was struck with something he had not felt in years… Homesickness.

Shinji had been used to being shuffled from one home to another when he was younger, because that was the lifestyle of a boy who's only parent didn't want him. But that changed when Misato took him in…

It could have been weeks, or even months before he and Asuka would be able to see her again, and for a moment, he greatly longed to be back at their lake house outside of New Yokohama. As he twiddled with the cross pendant Misato had given him three years ago, he began wondering what kind of zany antics the lavender-haired woman might be up to at the moment… Like what kind of awful, unhealthy food she must have been eating now that he was no longer there to cook—a thought that made Shinji wince with concern.

Shinji reached his hand over to Asuka's face to gently brush her cheek with the backs of his fingers, and she let out a gentle sigh. She was so beautiful, it almost pained Shinji to awaken her, but they were going to have to get up at some point…

"Asuka, you know we're breaking 'rule number 3.'" Shinji teased sweetly as he nudged her gently.

Asuka's auburn-covered head moved gently from Shinji's shoulder, and she stretched her long limbs while yawning. She smiled at the Japanese boy next to her, and gazed into his eyes.

"Yeah, I remember… 'No sleeping together.'" She said as she rubbed her face. "But I don't think this counts. And besides, Misato's not here." She added with a chuckle.

"I know it's only been a few hours, but do you miss her yet?" asked Shinji.

"Yeah, I guess I do. But don't worry, she's probably having a lot of fun with us gone."

"But don't you remember the fuss she put up when she saw us off?" An image of a hung-over Misato crying un-controllably at the airport began to resurface in Shinji's mind.

"She was just being a drama queen. She's probably already invited Makoto over to celebrate by now."

Asuka reached into a box over the side of the couch, and pulled out a framed picture from a vacation to that the three of them had went on that summer. In it, Asuka and Misato were both wearing grass skirts over their swimsuits, while sandwiched between them was an embarrassed looking Shinji.

"Hehehe… Do you remember what the guy who took this picture said when he left?" Asuka asked, and Shinji turned his flustered face away. "'That lucky son of a…'"

"Okay, I remember! Jeez, it was only like a month ago!" Shinji said as he put his face in his hands, which Asuka followed with a playful kiss on his cheek.

"Well, he was at least half right." She teased while casually wrapping an arm around Shinji's shoulders, and then placed the photo on the end table next to the couch. "Next time you miss the ol' battle-axe, she'll be right here."

"So, I guess we should start unpacking…" Shinji sighed as he pointed to the heaps of boxes, most of which had Asuka's name on them. However, Asuka shook her head at the suggestion.

"No way, it's been hours since we last ate, and we have no groceries whatsoever. We should celebrate moving in with some pizza!"

"Okay, I'll order one with peanuts, eggs, and mayonnaise." Shinji said teasingly, knowing full well that Asuka despised Japanese-style pizza toppings with a passion.

"Ew, you're gonna make me sick!"

"Okay, pepperoni and sausage."

"That's better."

Shinji flipped open his cell-phone, and punched in a search for Pizza.

"Oh, and Shinji?" Asuka called.

"Yeah?" Shinji answered as he clicked the scroll buttons, finding a take-out place that would suit their needs.

"Tomorrow we're taking you to get a haircut."

"Why?"

"Because those bangs of yours have gotten too long."

Shinji growled as he formed a cup with his lower lip and blew some air upwards, temporarily displacing his bangs.

"I like it this length."

"Well we've got class on Monday, and I don't want people to think I'm dating an emo kid." Asuka frowned.

Shinji rolled his eyes and gave a groan.

"I hate getting them though. You always want me to get one as soon as my hair looks normal."

"Normal? I can barely see those pretty eyes of yours anymore!" Asuka said with a forced whimper.

Shinji pinched the end of one of his bangs with his fingers and gave it a slight tug, and realized that her complaint wasn't entirely without merit.

"Okay then. Whatever makes you happy, I guess."

Asuka smiled with delight and gave Shinji a squeeze.

"You'll be glad you did, trust me."

As Shinji went about ordering the pizza, Asuka started looking through the pictures in the box again, this time from a small book. As she looked at one group photo from back home with Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke, Asuka began to wonder when they might next see the three of them. Not that she was _eager_ to see Shinji's two stooges, but she couldn't deny that some of the best times they'd had were when the five of them were all together.

Asuka finally stopped when she came across one last photograph in her little album… This was not a person that she'd ever seen in Japan, but she knew who it was… A whirling torrent of mixed emotions came over Asuka… And then she closed the book, realizing she didn't want to sort through them right now.

_I know Shinji is going to start asking about you someday… And honestly, I really want to see you again too… But if I did, would you want me, or would you just send me away again? I don't want to give up, but I don't want to get hurt again…_

As Asuka folded her hands on her lap, she felt her lips part, and the smallest of whispers escaped from her mouth, too quiet for Shinji's pre-occupied ears to detect.

"Papa…"

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Well, the next chapter been pretty much finished for a while now. I'll probably put it up in a day or two once I've gotten to go over it at least one more time, plus I'm trying to get a head start on Chapter 3. Fret not, for I AM working on it! I've also got a deadline this time, since at least one of the chapters is going to be carrying a fairly obvious Christmas theme, and I want to make sure it's out in a timely manner. So I'll see ya then!

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God bless!


	2. Reunions and unions

Ah, back again with a new chapter! Thanks for the reviews you all sent for the prologue, it means a lot to me. I don't know how well I'll be able to keep with my personal deadlines since time has been kind of tight lately, but I'm still gonna try to keep working on it. The way I see it, it's not worth seriously altering a creative vision for the sake of a deadline, so if the Christmas chapter ends up coming in January, so be it! Not that I'm plannign to be late, but pelase bear with me if I am. Now without further ado, chapter 2!

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 2: Reunions and unions

"Asuka, can't you hurry up? I _really_ need to brush my teeth and shave, and I don't want to be late for class!" Shinji called impatiently as he knocked on the bathroom door, over the sound of running water and Asuka's muffled singing.

"Then go ahead, it's not like the door is locked." Asuka chimed from the other side.

"What!? You want me to come in there while you're… Gah!" Shinji shrieked with embarrassment.

"Come on! You don't have to be shy, we've got a shower curtain! Besides, it's noting you haven't already seen."

Shinji shouted at himself internally, questioning what he was doing as he reluctantly turned the doorknob. _Remember, if you see _anything_, you're going to look away immediately, right?_

As the door opened, Shinji felt the hot and steamy air from the shower as it touched his skin and face, and could now clearly hear an American pop song playing on Asuka's radio as she sang along with it. Once he was inside, his eyes unsurprisingly gravitated to the semi-transparent shower curtain. When he saw the lovely silhouette of Asuka's naked body, some random, naughty suggestion managed to pop itself into his head, but he kicked his senses back into gear as quickly as he could. He hurried over to the sink to grab his toothbrush, and concentrated on the mundane task of brushing his teeth while trying with all his willpower to ignore his naked girlfriend who was only a few feet away.

Once he rinsed out his mouth, he got a chance to more thoroughly observe the new haircut he'd gotten in the mirror. His eyes were much more visible now, just like Asuka had wanted. But he couldn't help but feel a little overexposed now that his bangs only came to halfway down his forehead.

_If Asuka thinks it looks good, I guess I should learn to like it._ He thought as he opened the medicine cabinet to retrieve his razor, which for some reason wasn't there.

"Asuka, where's my razor?"

"Oh, hang on a sec."

A wet arm reached out from behind the plastic curtain, holding the utensil in question. With a sour look on his face, Shinji took it.

"You_ borrowed _my_ razor!?"_ He gasped.

"Yeah, isn't that hot?"

"No! This thing is _for my face!_ Now I'm gonna feel weird when I use it!_"_

"Well once it's unpacked, you can borrow _my _razor anytime you want." Asuka teased. "And you can't _imagine_ what I've used _that one_ for!"

"No thanks!"

Shinji decided to just shut up and shave before Asuka's comments could go any further. As her pleasant singing that began to fill the bathroom again, it almost helped Shinji to forget about just how nervous he was. Just as he'd finished wiping the last bit of leftover shaving cream from his face, he heard the water stop running, and would have bolted from the room if he hadn't been stopped by Asuka's voice.

"Oh Shinji… Would you mind handing me my towel?" Asuka sang as she peeked her face out from the shower, just barely concealing her body with the curtain.

Shinji swallowed hard and did as he was told, trying his best to keep his eyes pointed at the far wall. Mere seconds after Asuka had taken the fluffy pink cloth from him, she'd wrapped it around her torso and was stepping out of the tub.

"Thanks for not peeking." She said just before giving Shinji a quick peck on the lips. The poor boy looked like he was about to melt, and fumbled to strike up a casual sounding conversation to distract himself with.

"So, uh… What's your first class today? I forgot." Shinji asked nervously while trying not to look down.

"Physiology."

"Is that the one that commander—I mean, _professor_ Fuyutski is teaching?"

"No, that's biochem on Tuesday."

"Oh, yeah …" Shinji mumbled as they walked out of the room. "Don't you think it's going to be weird having him as your teacher?"

"Of course! I'm terrified that I'm going to call him 'commander' like you just did, but in front of the whole class! I'd be a laughing stock!"

They both let out a chuckle at that last comment. It had been a good while since either of them had seen the former NERV sub-commander, but then again wasn't really as if they had known him all that well anyway.

_Still, it's going to be interesting to have him around again._ Asuka pondered. _And it's not like I know anyone else in Kyoto except for Shinji._

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Asuka tapped her desk lightly with a pencil as she awaited the arrival their professor, and nervously checked her paper once again just to make sure she was in the right room, even though she already knew she was. In the college Asuka had previously attended, her professors made a healthy habit of arriving early, but clearly 'Dr. Kurosawa' preferred to be precisely on time, which made Asuka slightly uncomfortable.

Her discomfort momentarily ended when she noticed the other students quieting down, as a door near the front of the room opened. And when the professor stepped into sight, Asuka could tell that she was holding her breath as she rapidly realized who their professor really was.

The woman's eyes instantly traveled over to Asuka as well, but clearly not because she was the only person in the class who didn't have brown or black hair. The recognition was mutual, but the professor had obviously known full well that Asuka would be there, unless she hadn't even bothered looking at her student list… After all, just how many 'Asuka Langleys' could there be in all of Japan?

The professor did her best not to stare back, and instead stepped out in front of the class and began to give her introduction.

"Good morning. I am Doctor Ritsuko Kurosawa, and I'm going to be your instructor for Physiology this semester. I'm very proud to see that you have all taken an interest in the field of medicine, because it can be both challenging and rewarding for…"

How long Ritsuko's speech continued on for, Asuka did not notice. She was too preoccupied with wrapping her mind around the concept that not just one, but two of her former bosses from NERV were faculty members at Kyoto U, let alone as her own professors.

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As the class shuffled out of the room, Asuka remained seated; scarcely moving until the only people left in the room were her and Ritsuko. As the bottle blonde shuffled some papers into her briefcase, she began to speak.

"I didn't see you taking notes, young lady." The former Dr. Aikagi said, not averting her eyes from the task at hand. "That's not going to get you good grades."

"Dr. Aikagi, everyone thinks that you died three years ago!"

"I did die, just like you did. And I still have the scar from where Commander Ikari shot me."

That was one person Asuka did not want to think about right now, and just hearing his name made her wince.

"Asuka, please… Don't tell Misato that I'm here."

"Why?"

"It's just… We didn't part on the best of terms, and I'm not ready to face her yet."

Realizing that she was probably treading in a field of hornets' nests, Asuka decided to change topics.

"I promise won't tell her. But can you at least tell me how you ended up teaching here?"

Ritsuko sighed harshly, feeling like she was on an after school special.

"When I first decided I wanted to be a doctor, it was because I wanted to help people. But as an adult, I ended up letting my personal desires take over. One day I'd be patching up you and the other pilots after a battle, and the next I'd be helping the Commander create his tools for Armageddon. And now, hundreds of thousands of people have paid the price for my selfish wants."

Asuka knew fairly well what 'selfish wants' Ritsuko was referring to, through her conversations with Misato. Although she couldn't help but wonder what Ritsuko ever saw in a wretched man like Commander Ikari, Asuka did not want to torment her, and stayed silent.

"After 3I, I don't know how, but Professor Fuyutski managed to get me a teaching position here at Kyoto. Now I'm hoping that I can help young people like you learn to do what I wanted to when I was your age; to help sick people get better." Ritsuko reminisced.

"Why couldn't you have given a speech like that during class? The one you had was pretty boring." Asuka teased, getting a light laugh out of her former physician.

"Sorry, I'm still new at this whole teaching thing. I haven't been doing it for very long." The older woman chuckled.

The next good hour or so was spent catching up on what the two women had been up to for the last three years. Ritsuko was quite surprised to find out that Asuka and Shinji were now dating and sharing an apartment, and so was Asuka when she found out about Ritsuko's husband and two stepdaughters. The way they were talking, one could have easily thought them to be old friends who had just met again for the first time in years, even though when they worked at NERV they had been fairly distant.

Perhaps Ritsuko was a much more interesting person than Asuka once gave her credit for—or perhaps it was easy for Ritsuko to communicate, since in many ways Asuka reminder her of a younger version of Misato. But in all likeliness, they probably were both just happy to see a familiar face.

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_Why did my first class have to be pre-calculus? I'm an _artist_, why am I taking it?_

Shinji sighed with depression as he looked through the hefty textbook before him. Asuka was supposed to meet him in the cafeteria for lunch, and no doubt the assignment would make more sense once she went over it with him. But the brainy German fireball was now running twenty minutes late, and giving way to his grumbling stomach, Shinji decided to buy his food and eat while he waited for Asuka. He was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room while the other students mingled and chatted with each other, his only companion for now being the fish on his plate.

"Excuse me." A feminine voice said from behind, making Shinji jump. When he turned around he saw a pretty girl looking him in the eyes, but it was not Asuka. "Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl said in regards to startling Shinji, and he knew well enough to be polite.

"Oh, it's okay." He said as he poked at his lunch with a chopstick.

"Forgive me if I'm being rude, but I couldn't help but notice that you've been sitting alone all this time. Are you studying?"

"Well, I was waiting for someone and she's running kind of late. She was going to help me with pre-calc over lunch." Shinji said as he tapped the textbook's cover.

The girl gave him a bright smile, and leaned down to his level.

"My name's Matsume Minda." She said.

"Ikari Shinji."

"I was just thinking… It must be a shame to be eating all alone like this."

_It's the haircut. It has to be the haircut._

Misato had raised Shinji well, so he knew better than to let a girl fill her head with bubbly thoughts without knowing that he was taken. Not wanting to be rude, he tried to break it to her the best he could.

"Well you see… The person I'm waiting for is my girlfriend." Shinji said, trying not to sound too obvious.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that!" The girl explained with an embarrassed tone. "I just wanted to know if you'd like to sit with me and my friends over there."

Shinji looked over to where the girl was motioning, and saw a table populated with three other pretty girls.

"Maybe we can help you with that book for a few minutes while you wait. And when your girlfriend comes, you can introduce us to her." She smiled. Her offer seemed perfectly innocent, so Shinji decided to agree.

"Yeah, I guess that'd be okay."

"Great!" she giggled.

Shinji picked up his lunch tray and backpack after he'd placed the textbook inside, and then followed Minda over to the table where her friends were. Soon, they were all introduced properly.

"These are Yoko, Kira, and Mai." Minda said cheerfully as she gestured to her companions. "And girls, this is Ikari Shinji."

"Good afternoon." Shinji said politely. They girls responded with pleasant "hellos" in no particular order, and Shinji was seated. They were soon chatting and deciphering the early pages of the textbook, just as Minda had promised.

"So Shinji, you like math I take it? Calculus is a beast." Commented Kira.

"Well, I've always gotten pretty good grades, but I'm more into art."

"Really? Then why aren't you going to an art college?" asked Yoko.

"Actually I am, but I'm taking a few courses here since the UN is paying my tuition."

"Whoa, the UN!!?" Mai gasped.

"I knew I'd seen you somewhere before!" a wide-eyed Minda admonished. "You're _the _Shinji Ikari, the Eva pilot!"

"No way!" Squeaked Kira.

_Aw crap. I should have known this was going to happen. _Shinji laughed to himself.

With the textbook soon forgotten, the girls excitedly began asking Shinji questions about himself and his work as a pilot, with their level of enthusiasm seeming to increase each time he answered one. However, he made sure not to say _too_ much, because much of what happened at NERV was still classified information.

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When Asuka entered the cafeteria, she knew she'd have some explaining to do in terms of being so late. Her conversation with Ritsuko had gone on longer than she could have anticipated, so she hoped that Shinji would understand.

To her surprise, she saw Shinji sitting at a table with three—no—_four_ pretty girls, and they were giggling like mad, probably about something stupid. So Asuka decided to have a little fun, and maybe get a good jump out of Shinji. She walked up behind him quietly, and gave him a poke with her finger, making him flinch.

"Hah, I leave you alone for half an hour and you've already got groupies." Asuka ribbed from behind.

"Oh, Asuka!" Shinji said with a start. "Asuka, meet Minda, Yoko, Kira, and Mai. They were just helping me with my pre-calc book." Shinji tried to clarify, but the fact that the book was closed didn't help his case much. Not that Asuka cared, because she was actually pleased to see Shinji socializing without her help, even if it was with other girls. It wasn't like Asuka feared competition much, anyway.

"Girls, this is Asuka Langley, my girlfriend." Shinji said with a smile, and three of the girls gave her a polite wave. However, Minda simply gave her a strange, confused look. Asuka apparently didn't notice though, because she pleasantly pulled up a chair and seated herself.

"So Shinji, did you get me anything to eat?"

"Well, you were running kind of late, so…"

"Ooh, fried fish!" Asuka exclaimed brightly. She instantly leaned over and began picking at Shinji's tray, not bothering with any utensils. When she returned to her own seat however, she couldn't help but notice that Minda was staring at her.

"What?" asked Asuka with an eyebrow cocked, as she licked her fingers clean.

"Oh… It's just that when Shinji said he had a girlfriend, I assumed you were Japanese." Minda responded.

"Yeah, well what of it?" Asuka said nonchalantly.

"I just didn't think that someone as cool as Shinji would knock up a gaijin."

Asuka's eyebrows narrowed, and her jaw clenched. Poor Shinji was far too shocked to speak up on Asuka's behalf, let alone point out that their relationship had not been consummated… Not that it even mattered by this point.

"What did you call me?" The redhead demanded.

"I called you a gaijin. _What of it?_" Minda said, with her latter words spoken as if to parrot Asuka's previous reaction. Asuka almost had to clench her teeth to say what came next without raising her voice.

"Look prissy pants… I'll assume that you don't have any manners because your parents forgot to teach you some, so I'll let it slide this one time. But if you think that I'm going to put up with being insulted, then—"

"You expect _me_ to be lectured about manners from _you?_ Just who's putting up with _what?"_ Minda asked accusingly.

Both of Asuka's fists clenched into balls, and with the way her face reddened, Shinji could have sworn a vein was about to pop. And unfortunately, Minda's verbal assault was hardly over.

"So, you want to get physical, huh? Well don't worry. If you get in trouble, I'll bet you've got a rich daddy somewhere to bail you out." Minda mocked.

"_You rotten, smug-faced little brat!"_ Asuka screamed in a tone loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear, drawing a significant number of eyes to the commotion.

Shinji began reaching for his phone. If he timed it right, the paramedics should have arrived before any teeth were lost.

"You think you're so cool, huh? I suppose that once you're finished defiling our culture, you'll just marry into it and pollute our country with your ape-faced babies, right? That's what you rich crackers do, isn't it?"

There was no more screaming. And no punches were thrown, either. Instead, Asuka ran from the building with tears streaming from her eyes, trying as hard as she could not to let anyone see or hear her.

"Thanks a lot bitch!" Shinji shouted angrily at Minda as he grabbed his backpack and textbook, and then went to run after Asuka.

"Hmph. It takes one to know one." Minda sneered, but Shinji ignored her. Minda's friends merely stared at her with disappointed eyes as they picked up their things.

"What, you mean you're on _her_ side!?"

They didn't answer. They let the silence speak for them, and left Minda to sort through her thoughts alone.

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"It's just not fair!" Asuka sobbed through her hands, while she sat on a wooden outdoor bench.

Asuka hated crying, because it always reminded her of just how fragile she really was. Feeling weak was something that she had always feared, and letting people see that weakness only fueled her upset emotions even further. But sometimes, when things had built up for too long, the only escape was for Asuka to cry it out. When she was younger, sometimes she would find stupid things to cry about in private, just as an excuse to release emotional pain from something else that she didn't want to think about. But whatever the case, she always felt undignified from it, and her only consolation now was that there weren't too many people around to see her.

As she continued, she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder, and when she looked up, she saw the one person that she wanted to see the most at the moment.

"Asuka… It's okay."

Asuka pulled Shinji into a tight embrace, and the boy began to caress her in a gentle, comforting manner. He then tried to offer some words of support.

"That girl was just a racist jerk, and decided to lash out at you. It has nothing to do with you as a person."

"I know, but… Ever since I came to Japan, everyone's been so nice to me. I thought that everything I'd heard back home about people like her was a myth…" Asuka sniffled.

"I guess… Maybe there really are some people who can't accept us. But honestly, I don't give a crap. We don't owe them anything, especially not you."

Shinji kissed Asuka on the cheek, and they continued to hold each other for a few moments, while Shinji waited for Asuka's crying to slow down.

"Asuka, you know how much I love you, right?"

"Yeah. And I love you too." Asuka said, her sniffling having come to a stop.

"Well I want everyone to know it. Permanently."

Asuka's eyes went wide and her jaw slack, as Shinji nervously got up from the bench and kneeled down in front of her.

"I… I know I don't have a ring yet, but…" Shinji said, grasping for words.

"Shinji, aren't we… Kind of young for this?" Asuka asked in a voice mixed with both reluctance and excitement.

"Asuka please, this is hard enough for me as it is!"

Shinji wasn't kidding, because by now, they had attracted the attention of a small audience.

"Are you feeling sorry for me about what happened today? Because I do _not _want you to do this out of sympathy." Asuka informed him quietly, trying her best to sound serious.

"No. I've wanted to ask you for a long time, but today made me realize that I don't want to wait anymore."

Shinji took Asuka's hands in his, and gazed deeply into her still wet eyes. Even though there were now well over a dozen spectators circled around them, they suddenly felt as though they had been taken to a world where they were the sole inhabitants.

"Asuka… Will you marry me?"

Everything around them seemed to fade out, leaving them alone in their own, private paradise.

"Of course I will."

Before Shinji knew what hit him, Asuka's lips were firmly pressed against his own, while the group of onlookers clapped and cheered.

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Chapter end

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I'll be working on the next chapter as soon as I can. Don't worry, it's on it's way!

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God bless!


	3. New roads, dead ends

Ah, back again with another chapter! Yes, I know it's been a long time coming. And yes, the Christmas chapter isn't going to be very timely at all, because I haven't even gotten a chance to start writing it yet. But hey, progress is progress! I wanted to make sure this chapter was as good as I could get it, because like many transitional chapters it required quite a bit of polish to get it where I liked it. Plus, I've been on vacation the past few days with no internet access, so I was kind of in a rut even though this chapter was technically finished already. So please, enjoy!

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 3: New roads, dead ends

Shinji smirked as he leaned his latest creation against the living room wall, and then sat on the couch to observe it. Even though it was just basic mountain landscape, the fact that just over a month ago Shinji had almost no experience with paint at all brought him some satisfaction. He would have liked to work on for one more session, but even so he felt it was at least "pretty good."

He really did feel fortunate that the UN was paying for his education, because at this point, he kind of doubted that he could have afforded art college tuition on his own, let alone while attending Kyoto separately for his lib arts. It seemed truly amazing just how much a fine arts education could cost, in spite of the relatively low pay expectancy for the career it promised.

"So you're home!" Asuka said as she walked into the room, and stepped up to the painting to take a look. "Is it finished?"

"Yeah. It's not much, but at least I can finally work on something new."

"Hey, you're doing really well!" Asuka encouraged. "You don't need to be Rembrandt; you need to be _Shinji._ And I like the way _Shinji_ paints." she said proudly, before giving Shinji a peck on the lips.

"Thanks Asuka." Shinji said to her as he sat down on the couch, and Asuka found a comfortable spot snuggled next to him. Although it was pretty common for them to spend their afternoon loafing around like this, there was something on Shinji's mind that he'd been meaning to ask for a while, and unable to think of anything else, he found himself asking it.

"Asuka, I know we haven't really talked much about this, but… When do you think I can meet your dad and step mom?"

Asuka didn't answer immediately, and instead leaned back onto Shinji's chest, and looked towards her lap.

"I haven't told them I'm engaged yet." Asuka sighed. "Why do you care so much, anyway?"

"It's just that I always thought that, y'know… Meeting the parents was what couples do when they're getting married."

"Well, I guess maybe I could give them a call sometime."

"Are things—okay with you guys?" Shinji carefully asked, and he was worried for a moment when Asuka didn't answer. "I'm sorry, that's not really any of my business." He blurted shamefully.

"No, don't apologize!" Asuka pleaded. "They're going to be your family too, so you have every right to meet them!"

Asuka stood up from Shinji's lap and walked in the direction of the phone, and grabbed it in her hand.

"You're going to call them _now!?"_ Shinji asked from his agape mouth.

"I might as well. I shouldn't put it off any longer." Asuka explained, as she was about to dial the number.

"But think about it, it's only three o' clock! They might not even be awake yet!"

Asuka's hand stopped before she could finish dialing the number, and then began to laugh as she turned the phone off and put it back on the receiver.

"Have I really lived in Japan that long?" she chuckled. "I guess I should wait a little longer huh?"

"It happens to the best of us." Shinji joked as Asuka re-took her place on the couch.

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Asuka had been talking on the phone in her room for well over an hour, but Shinji couldn't even hope to understand just what she was saying. Although Shinji had been getting excellent grades in his English language class thanks to Asuka's frequent tutoring, he couldn't make sense of any of her conversation since she kept switching from English to German in mid-sentence. Not that it mattered, because it wasn't like he was trying to eavesdrop anyway. He was at least glad not to hear any of Asuka's German cursing, and that she sounded like she was in a generally pleasant mood.

Finally, he heard an enthusiastic "Auf Wiedersehen", followed by the beep of Asuka turning off the phone. Deciding to take a more proactive approach, Shinji got up from the couch and went to Asuka's door, and carefully pushed it open.

"How did it go?" Shinji asked, to which Asuka patted the spot next to her on the bed, and Shinji took a seat.

"Shinji, you know how we were planning to visit with Misato for the holidays?"

"Uhuh."

"Well… Papa says wants to meet you, and my step mom suggested we fly out there to spend Christmas with them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said they'd pay for the air fare and everything."

"Well, I'm sure our friends and Misato would understand. We can still go back to her place for New Year's Eve, right?"

"Heck, I'll even bring the lampshades. And besides, I think it'd be a good time to talk with her and our friends about our wedding plans." Asuka explained. "Which reminds me…"

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"My cousins from Boston are probably gonna be visiting my Dad's house, and…"

"Wait a minute… I didn't know you _had_ any cousins." Shinji said in surprise.

"Their names are Patrick and Kate, and I lived with them for a while when I was in America. We haven't seen each other in a while, but we were pretty tight."

"Is your whole family flying half way around the world to _meet_ _me?"_ Shinji asked nervously.

"Well… I guess you could put it that way, sort of. It's been a while since the whole Langley family has gotten together, and I guess this was the perfect excuse."

"Talk about no pressure…" Shinji sarcastically groaned as he rubbed his forehead anxiously.

"Hey, relax. They're going to love you." Asuka said as she playfully shook Shinji's shoulder. "Anyway, would you be okay with having Patrick as a groomsman? I don't want just the stooges on your side of the altar, and I was hoping both of my cousins could be in the bridal party." She asked with Bambi-eyes.

"Sure, anything to make you happy." Shinji said with a smile. "But if they're anything like you, this is going to be one heck of an endurance test." He snarkily added.

"Hey!" Asuka grunted as she gave Shinji a playful punch in the shoulder, which got a satisfying wince out of him. "Well I guess that means I can call Papa and Marie back a lot sooner than I expected." She picked the phone back up, and began to redial her parents' number. "Get your cello, Yo-Yo Ma. Once I'm off the phone, we're going to start practicing carols."

Shinji nodded, and left to collect his cherished instrument.

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After a somewhat rough but promising rendition of "Silent Night" came to it's end, Shinji put down his cello's bow and huffed some air out of his lungs in relief.

"Do you think we can give it a break now?" he pleaded, but Asuka simply raised her violin bow as if she was ready to start playing again.

"We've still got a _long way_ to go if we want to impress my dad. You've got to keep up with my tempo!" insisted Asuka.

"I thought the song is _supposed_ to be slow. If we played it as fast as you kept trying to, it'd sound all weird." Shinji lectured, and although Asuka did not want to admit defeat, she knew that Shinji was probably right. "We've been going for over an hour, and we've got two months to work on it. We're not in a hurry."

"Yeah, I guess we should take a break for a while." The Redhead confessed, lightening up a little. Shinji sighed with relief and placed his cello on its stand. Asuka took her usual place next to him, and lied down with the back of her head resting on Shinji's leg.

"You know Shinji… With all this talk of meeting my folks, there's something I've been meaning to ask _you…_" Asuka spoke softly.

"What?"

Asuka took in a breath of air and thought for a moment. Knowing the hesitation she'd felt about the subject of her _own_ parents, Asuka knew that it might be a little difficult to bring up what she wanted to ask Shinji. That's why when she approached the subject, she tried to do it carefully.

"Do you still want to look up, you know, some stuff about your mom?"

Shinji's fingers halted their usual habit of running through Asuka's hair for a moment, which sent Asuka the signal that he was thinking.

"I guess so."

"You guess so? That's a pretty weak answer if you ask me." Asuka scowled with disappointment. "Sure, we didn't really find much at school, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. I thought you really wanted to do this?"

"Well…"

"Come Shinji, no-one understands you better than me. Don't be afraid to talk about it."

"I don't have a lot of memories of my mom. It's just a few little things, but I always clung on tight to those. I guess I'm afraid…" Shinji started to trail off.

"You're afraid you'll be disappointed if you find out more, right?"

Shinji gave Asuka a confirming nod.

"But don't you feel like owe it to yourself to find out?"

"Yeah, I do." Shinji sighed. "And I think I know where to look."

Eyes lit with curiosity, Asuka sat up as Shinji took his cello by the neck, carefully turned it on its side, and pointed to a small bronze plaque with some katakana writing on it. Asuka began to read it aloud.

"Presented by the Kyoto Center for the Performing Arts to Yui Ikari: May everything you do in life be as beautiful as your music." Asuka paused for a moment, taken aback. "This—belonged to her?"

Shinji nodded gently.

"I guess we could try looking up the place where she got it."

"I'm up for some digging." Asuka grinned. "So what are we waiting for?"

His vigor seemingly returned, Shinji gave a small but honest grin, and soon they were both headed to the car.

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As Shinji made his way up the steps of the large white building before him with Asuka at his side, he couldn't help but feel a few butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He had never been to the Center for the Performing Arts before, and although he knew it did have a very good reputation for fostering talent, he had always wondered about what kind of reputation his mother might have had there—after all, it was unlikely that they'd hand out an expensive cello to just anyone who walked through the door. And then, his anxiousness caught him—and actually stopped his ascension of the stairs.

_What if I find out that I can never live up to her? Am I really ready for this?_

"Shinji, what's wrong?" Asuka asked.

"It's nothing, just give me a second." Shinji answered meekly. But really, it was hard to explain, and he questioned if Asuka would even be able to understand.

"If you've changed your mind, then…"

"No, it's okay, let's go."

_I've come this far already… If I don't go now, what if I never do?_

He reached the top of the steps, where he opened the glass doors and found himself in the lobby. It was a beautifully decorated room with a richly patterned carpet, two comfortable looking sofas and a chair, and woodwork around the walls coated with a rich, dark varnish. Behind the reception desk was a middle-aged woman who had her hair pulled back in a bun, and she smiled politely when she saw Shinji and Asuka enter.

"Good evening! May I help you?" she asked them.

"Um, maybe… We're looking for information about someone who was a student here." Shinji told her.

"Let me page Mrs. Morimoto; she handles our archives." The woman explained, and then picked up the phone. "Mrs. Morimoto? There are some young people here who'd like to see the student archives. Oh? Thank you." The woman placed the phone back on the receiver, and then left her place behind the desk, motioning for Shinji and Asuka to follow her down a hallway. They went around the corner and saw an elderly woman waiting in front of a door. She had gray hair and wrinkles near her eyes and mouth, and she gave the three of them a warm smile when she saw them approach.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Morimoto Leena." The elderly woman said cheerfully with a bow.

"I'm Ikari Shinji, and this is my fiancée, Sohryu Asuka Langley."

"Pleased to meet you." Miss Ibishi said to them both.

"Likewise." Asuka smiled.

Once they'd all been introduced, the receptionist went back to her desk and left the three of them alone. Mrs. Morimoto opened the door to the archives room, and began to speak as they walked through the room's various file cabinets and shelves.

"So, Ikari-san… Would you happen to be related to Ms. Yui Ikari?"

Shinji could feel his heart skip a beat, and he could tell Asuka's grip on his hand was tightening.

"Yes, she was my mother."

"I knew it, you have her eyes!" The woman said in delight as she began looking through file cabinets. "She was one of the finest Cello players ever to grace this school… And that was before we had digital archives, as you might have guessed…" The woman chuckled, pointing to the dusty shelf units

"Shinji plays Cello too!" Asuka excitedly told her. "And he's pretty darned good himself!"

"Well isn't that wonderful!" Mrs. Morimoto said brightly. "So Shinji, what kind of information about Yui were you hoping to find?"

"Anything, really. But I was hoping to at least find a picture of her." Shinji replied.

"Oh my… I'm terribly sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's okay." Shinji sighed.

"We were all so sad to learn when she passed away. It must have been hard for you…" Mrs. Morimoto lamented as she came to the drawer she was looking for. "Ah, here we are—Ikari Yui…"

Shinji's eyes lit up as Mrs. Morimoto pulled the folder out of the drawer. She handed it to Shinji, who carefully opened it and began to examine its contents… And his heart sank when he discovered that it was almost completely empty save for some bland school records, and a stack of white paper that had been stapled together in the corner.

"Wait a moment… I'm sure there was more in there! I know we had pictures of her, they should have been with everything else!" the woman exclaimed in disappointment. "It's been years since anyone's gone through that file, I don't know who could have taken everything!"

"I'm sorry Shinji…" Asuka whispered to the boy next to her as she held his hand, looking sorrowfully into his eyes. Out of curiousity, and perhaps desperation, Asuka began thumbing through the small stack of stapled paper. And to her surprise, she discovered hand written sheet music beneath it. "Well, it looks like whoever was here at least left this…"

"Ah…" Mrs. Morimoto admonished as she looked at the pages. "On the night of her swan song, Yui played this."

She handed the music to Shinji, and he began glancing over it, although none of it seemed particularly familiar to him.

"It's a piece she wrote herself. When it ended, the chairman of the center personally presented her with a beautiful cello on behalf of everyone here. We were all disappointed that Yui wasn't going to play Cello professionally, but that was one of the most beautiful nights I can remember in the twenty-six years I've worked here."

"I actually have that same cello… It's all I really have left of her."

"Well then I'm sure she would want you to have this."

Shinji sighed as he looked down at the music. He at least wouldn't go home entirely empty handed, but this was certainly not the prize he had been hoping for.

"Well, if you ever have the chance to come back, I'd love a chance to hear you play." Mrs. Morimoto humbly requested.

"We'll see, I suppose. Thanks for your time, Mrs. Morimoto."

"Think nothing of it. And I do hope you can find what you were looking for someday." The older woman said.

After they said their farewells, Asuka took Shinji's arm and they headed back to where they started, at the front steps of the building. Asuka could tell that Shinji was disappointed by the look on his face, and she wasn't really sure how best to comfort him. She had known that it was possible that their search would end in failure, but she now scolded herself for not thinking far enough ahead about what to do if that should happen.

"Shinji, do you want to sit down for a moment?" She asked thoughtfully, to which Shinji silently nodded, and then they found a vacant bench.

"I should have known this would happen." Shinji grunted angrily, clutching the sheet music just barely light enough not to crumple it.

"At least you tried. It's better than not knowing at all, isn't it?"

"I thought it would be… But then to learn that my old man got here first… It's like even from beyond his grave, he's still trying to hide her from me." Shinji said with anger lacing his words.

Asuka wanted to say something to make Shinji feel better, but she just couldn't think of anything that wouldn't potentially make it hurt more, so she decided against it.

"I always thought that somehow, being able to play my mother's cello would bring me closer to her. But all it's really done is make me want to know her even more, and now I don't think I'll ever be able to. I know it's kind of stupid, but…"

"No, there's nothing stupid about that at all. I can understand." Asuka said reassuringly as she caressed Shinji's shoulder. "Let's go home. I think we're both tired, and could use a good night's sleep."

"Yeah. And maybe this weekend I can take a crack at my mom's cello notes. Might as well get something out of all this."

They went to get their car out of the parking garage, and spent the trip home listening to the radio rather than talking. It had been one of the longest days either of them had had in a long time, and now all that they could seem to think about was putting it behind them.

_End chapter_

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Another chapter under the ol' belt! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pass out for a few hours and hopefully get started on Chapter 4 sometime soon! Hopefully it'll be out by the end of January. But hey, whoever said you can only have Christmas stuff in December, anyway? Heck, nothing stopped me from watching a Christmas episode of The Office while I was having a DVD binge this weekend.

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God Bless!


	4. An old friend

Thanks for coming back for another chapter! This one might seem a little short compared to others that I've done, but I didn't want to keep people hanging for as long as I did last time. And guess what? Next time I'll FINALLY be bringing you the friggin' Christmas chapter(s) that probably should have been published a month ago! Now please, read!

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 4: An old friend

"I hope you enjoyed my class for this semester, and with any luck maybe I'll see some of you again next year." Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki said enthusiastically to his pupils. However, despite being the last day of class for the until January, Asuka didn't feel terribly excited.

There were plenty of reasons for her to feel stress, after all… She had an intercontinental trip next week to prepare for, and on top of that she had been putting off her Christmas shopping till the last minute; something that every year she said she vowed to avoid, yet rarely did. But really, that wasn't what had gotten to her… She knew she was still feeling sorry for Shinji, and it had been eating away at her that there may be some dilemmas in Shinji's life that were beyond her power to fix.

Asuka didn't realize it, but during her moping she had become the only person left in the classroom, save for Professor Fuyutsuki, who was currently filing all of his papers and the class's final exams into his briefcase. He clearly noticed that Asuka was at least a little troubled, and called out to her.

"Miss Langley? I thought that you'd have left with the other students by now."

"Oh, it's… nothing." Asuka said in surprise.

"If it's about the exam, there's no need to worry. You were an excellent student this year, and I'm sure you passed with flying colors."

"Thank you." Asuka said, trying to be cheerful. "I wasn't worried though."

A thoughtful look came over Fuyutsuki as he observed Asuka. He'd been teaching classes decades before Asuka was born, and in doing so he'd gotten pretty sharp at knowing when a student had a problem.

"Are you sure there isn't something bothering you?"

"Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine."

"If that's how you feel then I don't want to pry. But just remember, I'm never too busy to listen to my students if they want to talk."

Asuka hung her head low to clear out her mind for a moment, and then looked back up at the aging professor.

"You see, Shinji and me had a bit of a disappointment a few weeks ago—Actually, _Shinji_ was the one who got upset, but for some reason it's been bothering me a lot."

"That's perfectly understandable. You two are getting married, and part of that responsibility is sharing each other's problems."

_Well if that's the case, I'm really getting the better half of the deal._ Asuka frowned to herself.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened that got him upset?"

"Well… Shinji doesn't really have much memory of his mom, and he doesn't remember what she looked like. So we went to this place where she used to play cello looking for information, but we only found some music that she wrote." Asuka sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Fuyutsuki said as his mouth went downwards into a frown.

"Shinji needs closure, but I'm starting to wonder if he's ever going to get it."

"Well, I think you came to the right person then." Asuka gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Follow me." Fuyutsuki said as he picked up his briefcase, and Asuka followed him as he led her down the hallway.

"Are we going to records room? Shinji already checked those when we first came here."

Fuyutsuki laughed lightly as Asuka tailed behind him.

"No. Don't worry, I know where we're going." Fuyutsuki said as he came to a door, and took out a key to unlock it. As they entered and turned on the lights, it was quickly evident that the room they were in was very disorganized and dusty—old furniture, file cabinets, and cardboard boxes were everywhere, and it all had a slightly musty smell to it.

"What is this place?" Asuka asked in confusion.

"Gendo Ikari did a very thorough job in erasing his wife from the public eye, that can't be debated. However, he only went to all the obvious places, like you and Shinji did. The student records are easily accessible and listed alphabetically, which wasn't difficult. A place like the _faculty storage room_, on the other hand…" he grinned. "Almost no-one comes back here, because it's just unsorted junk." Fuyutsuki began looking around the room carefully, trying to find something specific. Asuka didn't know what he was looking for, so she decided to just poke around the room at random while he looked.

"So Professor…" Asuka began "Why did Gendo want so badly to stamp out his wife's memory anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it just seems like he went through an awful trouble to make sure she was forgotten."

"Well, Yui's death did hit him hard, but he most certainly didn't want to forget her. After all, he _did_ always keep a picture of her close to him."

"Wait, but he told Shinji that he destroyed all of them!"

"Well, if there's one thing that you should know about the commander, it's that he was an excellent liar. However, not all pictures are paper and chemicals."

"What? Now I'm confused." Asuka said in frustration, but Fuyutsuki merely chuckled.

"You'll understand in a moment."

After another few minutes of wading through the storage room, Fuyutsuki seemed to find what he was looking for. It was a dusty old wooden office desk, and from inside of one of its drawers he pulled out a metal lockbox, which he just happened to have the key for. Asuka watched in anticipation as it clicked open, and Fuyutsuki lifted the lid, and removed a moderate sized piece of paper.

"I think this is what you were looking for a few weeks ago." Fuyutsuki said as he handed it to her.

Asuka examined the glossy sheet, and saw it was a photograph of a beautiful young woman in an elegant blue evening gown; she had brunette hair, enchanting blue eyes, and soft, delicate facial features that conveyed a sense of kindness; in one arm she held a bouquet of yellow flowers, and in the other she held the neck familiar looking cello. Asuka could see a lot of Shinji in the woman's face, but there was something else in there too… Something she recognized… And that's when it hit her.

"Wondergirl!?" She shrieked in alarm. "That's impossible!"

"Asuka, calm down." Fuyutsuki said in a vain attempt to ease her.

"How am I supposed to!? I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone!" She blurted back at him. Fuyutsuki quickly pulled up an old office chair and had Asuka sit down, afraid that she would fall over if he didn't act quickly.

"Now, I think an explanation is called for." Fuyutsuki began. "Remember what I told you about the commander's picture of Yui?"

"Yeah. But it still doesn't make sense." Asuka mumbled as she rubbed her forehead anxiously.

"I'm pretty sure you know by now that Rei wasn't just any ordinary girl. She was genetically engineered from the ground up, and since the Commander designed her…"

"He… He wanted to make her look like Yui?"

"Yes. But he didn't stop at just her physical appearance. He also gave her some of Yui's personality attributes—namely her loyalty, and her compassion."

"I get the loyalty part, but Rei never seemed particularly compassionate to me…" Asuka scowled _But then again, I was never very nice to her in the first place. _She scowled regretfully._ Now it makes perfect sense why Shinji liked her so much… It's that whole Freudian thing._

"Asuka, I know that all of this is a bit hard to swallow, but at least you know the truth. And there's more in that box, if you want to look."

Asuka took in a deep breath and exhaled it as she slumped into her chair, and didn't say anything for at least a minute. Then finally, she picked up the lock box, and carefully began to further examine the rest of its contents. But as she did an idea hit her, and even though she still had mixed feelings about what she'd found today, she knew that it was something that she needed to do… Shinji needed it, and that was enough to compel her into action.

"Professor, can I take this stuff up to the computer lab for a while?"

"Actually, I'd prefer you kept all of it."

"Is… That really okay with you?"

"Yui was like a daughter to me, but Shinji is her son, and I think he needs this a lot more than I do."

Asuka closed up the lockbox and tucked it under her arm, and Fuyutsuki escorted her to the door. Just before Asuka left the building though, she surprised Fuyutsuki by wrapping her arms around his torso and giving him a tight hug.

"At my wedding, I'll make sure there's a seat saved for you on Shinji's side." Asuka said as she pulled away from her professor.

"You really don't have to do that." Fuyusuki sheepishly responded.

"If Yui was like your daughter, then wouldn't she have wanted you to see her son get married?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Langley. I suppose I'll have to agree." Fuyutsuki said with a gentle laugh.

"Thank you."

"You can tell Shinji that if he ever wants to know more about Yui, my office door is always open."

"Well, we're going to Germany for Christmas next week, but I'll make sure he knows."

Just as Asuka was about to leave, Fuyutsuki had one last thing to say to her.

"Oh, and Asuka?" She looked back at him momentarily, and he gave her a kind smile. "Yui would be very proud to see her son marry a woman like you."

"Thanks again." Asuka said bashfully, although she clearly appreciated the comment. And with that, she headed off to the computer lab to see if her plans were possible.

End Chapter 

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Another tally mark on the ol' wall! I hope you liked this chapter, even though it might seem a little rushed. My classes are starting up again next week, and since the schedule changes I made to my job haven't gone into effect yet, I'm going to be _major_ swamped until the week after, and ontop of that I need to apply for a student loan so I can buy a laptop, which I'll probably be paying for until after I've graduated. So… I don't know when I'll be able to finish the next one, but hopefully I can get started really soon. And hey, at least I was able to get an entire chapter done within a 24-hour window! Now I've got to see if I have any Christmas spirit left even though it's the middle of January, because I said there'd be a Christmas chapter, and gosh darnit there will be! I guess this is a tast of what it's like for people who make movies about holidays…

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God bless!


	5. Meet the Langleys

Reporting to you live with a Superbowl XLI post-game update, I'm back with another chapter! And guess what? It's more than two months later than it was supposed to be! But that's okay, because at least my story is finally MOVING again! This one took a really long time because I had a lot of "literary ironing" to do before it was smooth enough for me to publish, but now it's finally done and I can post it! This sucker took a long time to write since it's a "transitional phase chapter," meaning that I had to move from one phase in the story to the next while trying to keep the ride smooth. Hopefully the next one will be out a lot faster, but please keep in mind that between work and school, I had to give up A LOT of sleep to get this chapter out, so I hope you like it!

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 5: Meet the Langleys

Shinji jumped a little when he heard a swift thump from the apartment complex hallway, followed with some Asuka's muffled cussing. Shinji knew that she was stressed about something, and part of it was likely that she wasn't finished packing and they'd be leaving soon. Asuka was, after all, a notorious over packer, and on trips like this she'd often whine about forgetting something ten minutes after they left. This time it was obviously enough to make her put her fists into the wall, though.

Asuka stormed through the front door looking more than a tinge irate, holding a newspaper and a fistful of junk mail.

"I was expecting a package three days ago and it still hasn't come!" Asuka growled furiously. "And to think I paid for second-day shipping!"

"If it comes while we're gone then we'll just get it when we come back." Shinji said calmly in an attempt to cool Asuka down.

"But it's _important!" _Asuka whined, even though there was really nothing either of them could do about it.

"Well it's not like we can wait around _another_ three days for it, we've got a plane to catch!"

"Fine." Asuka sighed, but her face told that she was extremely disappointed. "But are you sure you're bringing enough warm clothes?"

"Yes, considering I had to _buy_ them just for this trip." Shinji drolly responded.

"Good, because Munich is pretty freakin' cold this time of year compared to what you're used to." Asuka reminded him for the ten-thousandth time.

"So, um… Is there anything I can do to help you get ready?" Shinji asked, trying to make himself useful in attempt to put Asuka in a better mood.

"I'm not sure anyone can." Asuka muttered beneath her breath.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Now just give me ten minutes and I'll be finished!"

Asuka flew into her room, and Shinji began watching the clock. After _five_ minutes had passed, she came tumbling out with three bags slung over her shoulders and her violin case in her hand.

"Well, are you going to help carry any of this?" She said as she dropped her cargo load to the floor. Shinji sighed and rolled his eyes as he slung the heaviest of the bags over his shoulder dutifully, then picked up his single travel bag and Cello case.

"Asuka, are you feeling alright?"

"I told you it's nothing! Now let's get all of this crap out to the car so we can go!"

With that, Asuka grabbed her violin, the remaining bag, and her backpack and huffed out the door.

_Something is definitely eating at Asuka, and it's not just the usual holiday stress. I just wish she would tell me so we could sort it out._ Shinji's grumbled to himself.

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Their four-hour flight felt a lot longer than either Shinji or Asuka had hoped it would, and thanks to the in-flight movie, Asuka was not able to sleep at all, and she doubted that she'd ever be able to sit through "Meet the Parents" again. But at least they didn't have much trouble finding their way out of the airport and to the auto rental, where Asuka's father had a white SUV on reserve for them. Once their luggage had been loaded inside, Asuka took the driver's seat, and they headed onto the road.

"So Asuka… About how far away is your place?" Shinji asked.

"About twenty minutes. Why?"

"It's just that I didn't see you sleep at all on the plane, so I just want to make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard."

"I do have a nasty habit of that, I guess." Asuka sighed. "But don't worry, I told you I'm fine. I just haven't had much time for sleep, and I had some trouble with my Christmas shopping." She said half-truthfully. "I just need a good nap and a long, hot bath." _Why does it seem like every time I have a good idea, it turns into some dumb-ass scheme that bites me later? _She moped inwardly._ Maybe I should have just shown Shinji the lockbox instead of leaving him hanging with this stupid fiasco… And I still don't kno_w _what's going to happen when he meets Papa._

"Just remember, if you need to lean on someone, I'm going to be right next to you." Shinji said to her compassionately. Asuka wanted so badly to lean over right that moment and start pashing, but she knew that it wasn't worth getting into an accident over, so her common sense fortunately got the better of her.

While Asuka made sure to keep her eyes on the road before them as they drove, Shinji looked out the window to observe the pleasant snow-capped Bavarian scenery roll past his window. The sight of it made him feel curious, wanting to take a step out of the vehicle and examine it.

"I've never actually seen snow up close before. What's it like?" Shinji asked.

"Well, sometimes it's like a thick powder, but other times it'll be more wet, so it packs down when you step on it. Honestly though, I'd prefer a warm sunny day at the beach."

"You're saying snow is overrated?"

"Well, maybe not overrated, but I don't really understand why so many people get excited over it."

Shinji shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"Where I'm from, I don't think there's been a snowy day since before I was born. Misato said that the climate started changing again after third impact, but even before _second_ impact we had pretty mild winters."

Asuka didn't really have anything to add, because frankly snow wasn't a particularly interesting topic to her, nor were the climate-altering effects of a global catastrophe. Asuka had always been a summer girl, with light sundresses and skimpy swimsuits being her attire of choice. However, it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and a part of her did miss seeing the snow on the ground every now and then. But even though this was the place she once called home, spending the last decade bouncing around the globe made it difficult for Asuka to appreciate sometimes.

As Asuka came to a familiar looking street, she took a turn and went on it. There were houses on this road, but they were relatively far apart, with lots of trees separating them for privacy. Shinji couldn't help but notice how large they were, so obviously they were in a very expensive neighborhood.

"We're almost there." Asuka said. "This is the street."

Shinji felt a little nervous. He'd always known that Asuka's father had money, but was never sure as to what extent. Clearly, when you are one of the top biological engineers on the planet, you get paid pretty well. And being married to a reputable psychiatrist probably didn't hurt, either. Shinji had never been interested in that kind of thing anyway, but knowing that you're fiancée comes from a rich family _does_ imply that some serious expectations might be awaiting you from the parents. His nervousness started to increase when Asuka pulled into a private driveway and drove some ways further, through some lightly wooded area and away from the other houses.

And finally, there it was—one of the biggest houses in the entire neighborhood, which was saying something. Shinji wasn't _completely_ unfamiliar with big houses seeing as his buddy Kensuke came from one, but that was different, because Shinji wasn't _marrying_ him. It was a very beautifully built home, he couldn't deny. It had a fairly contemporary design to it with lots of angled roof panels and large, decorative windows taking up lots of space, but it still had some traditional style thrown in to keep it from looking too out of place with the scenery, like the rich brown wood siding and the intricate stone walkways. White Christmas lights were strung off of the roofing, and two festive looking wreaths were hanging from the double doors that looked like the main entrance. At last, Asuka parked the car in on the blacktop in front of the three-door garage, and shut off the engine.

"We're here." She said in a slightly uneasy tone. Oddly enough though, she didn't make a move to open her door, and instead just sat there, as if waiting for something to happen.

"Well… Are we going to go in?" Shinji asked in a half-joking manner. Asuka snapped to her senses, and reached for her car door handle.

"Sure. But first, let's go over a few last minute things." Shinji groaned, knowing that it was going to be the same things Asuka had been going over with him for the last month. "Papa and Marie can speak Japanese, but my cousins don't so remember to speak English when you talk to them. And if you hear anyone slipping into German, it's probably nothing you need to hear, anyway. And if Langley _men_ start talking sports, don't mention baseball, because my dad is a Yankees fan and my uncle is a Red Sox fan, and you know how that is… Football is okay though, because they both …"

"We've been over this a million times!" Shinji said in attempt to stop Asuka's rambling. "Let's just get inside before we freeze to death."

_Geez, I feel like a nut._ Asuka grumbled. _I spend all this time trying to educate Shinji on the petty nuances of my family, and yet I still feel like I've completely left him in the dark when it comes to the big picture… God, I hope this all turns out okay…_

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Shinji and Asuka climbed out of the SUV and popped open the hatchback, each of them taking a duffle bag over their shoulder, and finally Asuka led them over to the main door. She took in a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell button.

A moment later, the door opened, and Asuka was greeted by a pretty German woman, who looked to be in her late 30's, had hazel eyes and medium-length dark brown hair.

"Asuka, it's so good to see you again!" The woman said excitedly as she embraced Asuka and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You've grown so much, I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Nice to see you too, Marie." Asuka said as she hugged and kissed back.

"And you must be Shinji!" 'Marie' said cheerfully as she turned to the boy, and then pulled him in for a quick hug as well, much to his surprise.

"Good afternoon Mrs… I mean, Dr… er…" Shinji embarrassingly stammered after being released.

"Please, just call me Marie." Marie laughed as she opened the door to let them in. "By the way Shinji, your voice has gotten a lot deeper since the last time I spoke to you."

Shinji thought back for a moment, and vaguely recalled speaking to Marie _very_ briefly on the phone a few years back. How she could remember him from such an obscure event was beyond Shinji, but then again Marie was a shrink, so he assumed that having a good memory must have been part of her job.

As they stepped inside the house, Shinji felt even more anxious of it than he did from the outside. The entrance room alone had a ceiling that went all the way up to the second floor, with light shining in from the giant window over the entrance doors. Two ornately curved staircases came down from the second floor in front of them, and there were two large paintings on the walls to the left and right of the stairs. A plush rug lay on top of the reddish-brown stone tile floor, and the overall color of the room had a warm tan feel, which was complimented nicely by the red and green Christmas décor. Marie then looked to Asuka and began to speak.

"Asuka, your cousins arrived in town yesterday. They'll be having dinner with us tonight since their parents are going out."

"Oh… Do I have time for a nap? I'm having some mega jet-lag." Asuka asked as she dropped her bag on the floor.

"You should have about an hour and a half. We made up your room just as you left it, and one of the guest rooms is set for Shinji."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine with the couch." Asuka said with a yawn. "Come on Shinji, I'll try to show you around a little before I crash."

As Asuka took Shinji by the wrist through the halls of her house, pointing to various doors and explaining which led where, Shinji couldn't help but keep feeling a sense of awe for the beautiful architecture and interior design, if not slightly daunted. As they came around a corner, Shinji found himself in the massive great room, which had yet another high ceiling, multiple couches amongst other lavish furnishings, which included finely crafted wooden coffee and end tables, and one of those legendary 60" flat panel TVs hanging on the wall across from the seating area.

Asuka let out a relaxed moan as she allowed herself to fall over onto one of the sofas in the most elegant looking manner she could, quickly shut her eyes and seemed to lose consciousness almost immediately. Shinji sat down on the adjacent loveseat and began to contently gaze at his sleeping girlfriend, when Marie walked into the room carrying a hot drink of some sort, and offered it to him.

"I thought you might like some hot chocolate, Shinji." Marie said as she held out the steaming beverage. "My guess was that Asuka would be asleep by now, and it looks like I was right…"

"We did get up pretty early today, but I don't think she's been sleeping well." Shinji said regretfully. "I don't know what set her off, but I wish there was more I could do…"

"She's always had her little moods." Marie sighed. "I have a few ideas of what she's going through, but I don't really think it's my place to tell you."

"I've gotten used to it by now. I know she'll talk about it when she's good and ready." Shinji then took a sip of the hot chocolate, and found it to be a lot richer and creamier than he expected. "Wow, this is good."

"Asuka told me she wanted you to try some German chocolate while you were here. She kept talking about weaning you off of something called 'pocky.'" Shinji laughed a bit at that comment. While he wasn't about to denounce his preferred crunchy snack, he had to agree that Marie's cocoa had it beaten when it came to chocolate.

There were a lot of questions Shinji would have liked to ask Marie during their conversation, but many of them just seemed too uncomfortable, either because they were things he should be asking Asuka herself, or because they just wouldn't have been proper to ask one's future mother-in-law… Like why Asuka always seemed reluctant when talking about her father. Once he'd finished his cocoa, Marie left him alone to get some rest, and then he pulled from his pocket the manga that he'd been catching up on during the flight. He only managed to read a few pages though, before he found himself getting sleepy.

_I certainly have no place to complain about Asuka's behavior lately… _He thought as his eyes shut. _After all, I got pretty testy too after that mess with the Performing Arts Center a few weeks ago…maybe we_ both_ just need a good rest._

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Shinji stirred awake to the sound of excited chatter coming from nearby, and judging from the unfamiliar voices and English language being used, it was most likely Asuka's cousins. He quickly jumped up and looked for the closest reflective object he could find, which happened to be the TV screen. He ran his fingers through his displaced hair, trying his best to make himself presentable, and had just enough time to before they came into the room.

Shinji saw that one of the voices belonged was a young man, who was about five foot ten, putting him two inches taller than Shinji's five foot eight. He had a lanky, slightly athletic physique with a boyish looking face, and his hair was of a brownish black color and cut close to his head. Obviously, he was Patrick. The girl, Kate, was around Asuka's height of five foot six, and the two girls shared a passing family resemblance. The most obvious differences were hair color and body-type—Kate had shoulder-length blonde hair and had a thin build, versus Asuka's waist-length auburn-red hair and slender curves. Both the boy and the girl shared Asuka's sapphire blue eyes, a feature that was now looking to be common in the Langley family.

"Ah, you're awake!" Asuka said happily as she wrapped her arms around Shinji's torso and kissed him. "Guys, this is Shinji."

"Oh my God, he is so cute!" Kate exclaimed as she held out her hand. "I'm Kate!"

"Hi, it's nice to finally meet you." A blushing Shinji said as he gave Kate's hand a gentle shake. "And you must be Patrick." He said to Kate's brother.

"Call me Rick." Patrick instructed, and held up an open hand facing towards Shinji, who then remembered that his was his cue to give Patrick a high five.

"No, call him Pat, he loves it!" Kate teased, to which her brother gave her an irritated glare.

"I told you not to do that! I hate it!" Patrick fumed.

"But what else am I supposed to call my favorite little brother?" Kate asked with a tone of mock affection in her voice.

"_Little _brother? Hah, only by eight minutes!"

"_Nine minutes."_ Kate reminded him habitually.

Shinji did his best to ignore the inter-sibling teasing unfolding before him, and turned his attention back to Asuka.

"So how long have you been up?" Shinji asked her.

"Only a few minutes, actually. These two just got here." Answered Asuka while gesturing to her cousins with her thumb.

"So Shinji, you're 18, right?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Well you're one brave dude! I mean, a teenage boy giving up his freedom already? That takes guts!" Patrick said in amazement, much to Shinji's embarrassment.

"Oh shut it Rick. Just because you're like, a man slut doesn't mean every guy wants to be one." Kate said as she jabbed Patrick with her elbow.

"For the last time, _Tina_ broke up with _me!_ When I started seeing Roxy it was totally legit! How does that make me a…"

"Will you two please behave? Did you come here to hang out with me and Shinji, or to taunt each other?" Asuka asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, we'll behave." Patrick said while putting his hands up in joking fashion. "So, what _did_ you want to do? It's only four."

Asuka put her finger on her chin, not quite sure. She was technically their hostess, so the final say was ultimately hers.

"Well, I can't help but notice you don't have a tree yet." Kate noted. "And Christmas is three days away."

"Ooh, good idea! And we just so happen to have two strapping young men to carry one!" Asuka said with delight, ignoring the protesting groans from Shinji and Patrick.

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The tree farm was a magnificent sight, with just about any kind of tree one could desire being available in many sizes, bearing just a little bit of white from the last snowfall on their branches. Patrick was off in one corner bombarding Shinji with questions about the new Gundam show that had just come out in Japan, which Shinji knew almost nothing about since he hated Gundam. Fortunately Asuka didn't have to hear it though, because the boys were over by the 'easy to carry' trees of about five to six feet while Asuka and Kate looked at ones that would compliment the great room's high ceiling.

"So Asuka, have you and Shinji thought at all about the big day? Like, when it's gonna be?" Kate asked.

In truth, when Asuka was younger she didn't really see herself as being the marrying type—unless of course, it was to Kaji. And even those little fantasies didn't usually involve fairytale weddings, but rather cheap 24-hour chapels in Las Vegas. However, Shinji was far more to her than a foolish, immature crush… She _loved_ Shinji, and her opinion now was that a love like theirs deserved a proper wedding.

"Well, we were hoping to have it in June, here in Germany." Asuka responded. "There are some old churches around here I've been eying for the ceremony, too."

"Hmm, a June would be really nice." Kate's eyes began to wander into space, as if she was daydreaming, but then her face started to become a little more serious. "So, Patrick sort of mentioned this already, but… Are sure that you're _ready_ to get married? I mean, I'm not saying you're making a mistake, but you _are_ really young…"

"I kind of asked myself that question when Shinji proposed. But when I thought about just how committed he was to me, and how much I loved him, it really did seem like the next step in our relationship. And that made me happy."

"Well then I'm happy for you. But I am kind of surprised that you'd want to have such a short engagement."

"Well there's a reason for that, too. You see, we've been dating for almost two years, and we _liked_ each other since we first met, ages ago. But…" Asuka found the oncoming subject a little embarrassing to talk about, but then again, she had known Kate for a very long time. _Why do I always hate explaining this part so much? _"…we haven't _done it_ yet."

"You _haven't?"_ Kate asked, astonished.

"No. And when Shinji proposed, we agreed that we were going to save it for our wedding night." Just the thought of that made Asuka instantly start crunching numbers in her brain, trying to figure out exactly how many days were left till June. "I mean, what's the point of a long engagement if we've already waited this long?" Kate looked over to where Shinji was standing, and let out a sigh.

"Well, I can certainly understand now. I don't think I'd want to wait either."

"Hey, you'd better not forget that he's _mine_." Asuka jokingly warned with a snicker. She started to run her gloved fingers through the branches of a douglas fir tree that must have been at least 10 feet tall, and her face lit up as she looked to the top of it. She began walking circles around it to look for imperfections, of which she could see none.

"Boys, get over here! I found us a tree!" She called. As Patrick and Shinji came over to where the girls were, they looked up not in awe, but in dread.

"How are we gonna carry that thing?" Patrick muttered. "It's like a monster."

"Um… It looks nice…" Shinji said, ever the diplomat. When they lived with Misato, the biggest tree that they'd ever brought in was just over 5 feet tall, and even those were overpriced in Shinji's opinion, but that was largely because none of the trees Asuka liked were native to Japan. Fortunately, the roll of euros that Marie had given her was apparently enough to cover the cost.

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Shinji and Asuka stepped back to look at the massive monument of green standing in the great room of the house, and let out a collective huff of exhaustion. It was finally fully decorated, save for the star on top. Shinji knew the Langley family tradition quite well, because Asuka had been shoving it down his and Misato's throats for the past four years… The man of the house puts it up on Christmas eve, which back in Japan had always been Shinji's job, but would obviously now revert to Dr. Langley… Which made both Shinji and Asuka wonder, when would they be seeing him? Despite all that had happened in the past few hours, it was still only six forty-five, but it wasn't long before the sound of a door opening and shutting could be heard, and when Asuka heard it, she sprinted for the entrance room.

Asuka held her breath before she left the safety of the hall, the feeling of her recent anxiety coursing through her veins. She knew exactly who had just come in, because Marie had already gotten back with a stack of pizzas a few minutes prior, so that really left only one possibility. Asuka let the spent air out of her lungs, and then tried her best to stride confidently into plain sight.

He was a man of about six feet tall in his mid 40's, wearing a dark gray suit and a striped tie. His hair was red, but unlike Asuka's it was of a much darker shade, almost the color of drying blood. His face was handsome looking with chiseled features and a strong, square jaw line, but the focal point was the gaze of his blue eyes. Asuka wasn't sure what she wanted from him, but right now, she thought that a simple "hello" might be enough.

"Papa… You're back." A wide-eyed Asuka said.

"Asuka! Nice to see you back home." Asuka's father put down his briefcase before walking up to Asuka, at which point he tilted his head down and kissed her briefly on the forehead. It wasn't really the kind of kiss that said 'How's my little girl been?' or 'I missed you,' but rather it said something along the lines of 'What's up, kid?' While Asuka wasn't sure what she wanted from him, she knew that she wanted more than that. She'd settle for what she could get though, which was most certainly unlike her usual personality. "So why don't you introduce me to Shinji? I'm interested in meeting the legendary Third Child."

Asuka did her best to appear bright and chipper while they walked to the dining room, but on the inside she almost wanted to cry. Would it really have been so hard for her father to greet her with a hug, or for that matter, to refer to Shinji as her _fiancée_ rather than her former teammate? _And what's with him calling Shinji "legendary?" Am I chopped liver or something? _Once they made it into the dining room, they found everyone waiting for them.

"Hi Uncle Alex!" Kate said as she and Patrick waved.

"Hi kids." Asuka's father answered back before giving Marie a quick peck. Then, his immediate attention went to Shinji. He held out his hand, which Shinji accepted and shook.

"You must be Shinji Ikari. I've been told many great things about you." Though his words were sent as a compliment, to Asuka, the look in her father's eye seemed to be telling Shinji 'We're going to talk later,' which made her a bit uncomfortable.

"So… Is it Dr. Langley then?" Shinji asked carefully, to which the older man seemed to think on for a moment.

"Alex will be fine." He said in acknowledgment, and they all sat down to eat. The conversations during dinner ranged from a wide variety of subjects, from important things like the timetable for Shinji and Asuka's wedding, to the subject of their battles, victories, and misadventures during the Angel war. All the while, Asuka's father seemed to be somewhat quiet, merely nodding in acknowledgement and letting out an intrigued "Hmm…" sound every here and there. In all though, the meal seemed to go smoothly, which left Asuka feeling a bit more at ease than she had been earlier, even if her father was keeping himself somewhat unreadable.

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Since they were still both wired on Japanese time, Shinji and Asuka decided it best that they go to bed early that night, so Patrick and Kate went back to their hotel shortly after supper. As they they made their way up the stairs, Shinji took Asuka's hand in his and gave her a calm, easy-going look.

"So, your dad seems pretty cool." Shinji said.

"I guess that's easy enough to say after just one day…" Asuka mumbled "But let's just not get too ahead of ourselves. My dad is obviously going to want a one-on-one conversation with you at some point, and I have no idea where that's going to go." Shinji nodded solemnly, because he knew that some tough questions might be waiting for him, and he still didn't know much about Alex Langley other than what Asuka had told him—which was really quite miniscule. "Both Papa and Marie are working tomorrow, so we'll have this whole place to ourselves. We should try to get in some music practice."As they came to Shinji's door, Asuka stopped with him for a moment. "Just so you know, your room doesn't have a bathroom, but you can use mine in the morning if you want." Asuka said as she pointed towards a door on the far wall. "It's got a much bigger tub than the one in the hall."

"Thanks, but I've always preferred showers anyway."

"Why's that? Baths are way more fun!"

"Well I guess it's because… Whenever I used to get in the bath, my bad memories would come back." Shinji said with a sigh as he looked away briefly. "I know, it probably sounds silly… But it still happens sometimes." Asuka moved her head close to Shinji's, gave him a tender look and began whispering into his ear.

"After we're married, we can take one _together_ and give you some _happy_ memories to think about." Asuka started to playfully walk her fingers across Shinji's shoulder, and she could tell by the embarrassed blush on his face that she was making him excited.

_Oh, I'm sure that next time I take one I'll have _plenty_ to think about _now_…_ Shinji thought mischievously, but he tried not to get _too_ wound up. "That'd be… nice…" he mumbled sheepishly.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep." Asuka yawned, and Shinji nodded while visibly showing his own signs of tiredness. "Tomorrow, let's just try to chill out and find something fun to do." She added in a relaxed fashion.

"Sure." Before Asuka left for her room though, Shinji wrapped his arms around Asuka's waist and gave her a lasting kiss on the lips. "Sleep well."

"You too." Asuka said sweetly as they separated.

_End Chapter_

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I'll see you all next time! Hopefully I'll be able to get my student loan approved soon, because I'm looking to get a sweet laptop which could really help increase my productivity, both for school and my writing. (Well, some studies say using laptops too long can result in _reduced_ 'productivity' in men, so I'll make sure to be careful) Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll try to have the next one out as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God bless!


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